[UK-CONTEST] Websites and all that

[Don Field]

I have been following the website debate with interest, as the whole issue
is one of my concerns both under my Board and Contest Committee hats.



Let’s cut to the chase. There seem to be two issues:



   1. Broken links. These are, unfortunately, a feature of every website in
   the known universe and can only be fixed once they are spotted. As far as
   the RSGB website is concerned, the site manager is Rob King. If you spot
   anything, he is the man to fix it.
   2. Several websites existing outside RSGB. There are lots of these,
   mainly for historic reasons – not just the HF and VHF contests websites, not
   just BERU and IOTA, but ARDF, IOTA Awards,  the Propagation Studies
   Committee, EMC Committee, etc.



So how does one fix (2)? After all, the ARRL has one website, and a pretty
good one at that. The answer is, largely, money. RSGB membership is a few
pounds more than a subscription to a typical magazine. But young members and
oldies get a reduced rate. At the AGM the question was asked as to whether
those currently unemployed should also get a reduced rate. In an ideal
world, maybe yes. But would Practical Wireless or Personal Computer World
give you a reduced rate because you were young, old or unemployed? No!!!!



So the RSGB’s average “take” per member is probably around the same as an
average magazine subscription. Yet it produces a good quality magazine and
offers a very wide range of membership services to boot (running a QSL
bureau, regional organisation, exams, contests, EMC and planning advice,
negotiations, with OFCOM, contests, etc, etc) as well as making a per member
contribution to IARU to safeguard our hobby at the international level.



How does it do this? By using volunteers (and the well is actually starting
to run dry – recent ads in RadCom for trophies manager and other volunteer
roles have gone unanswered). The websites are a case in point. An
explanation has already been given on here for contest websites which grew
up before the Society had its own site. But they continue for very practical
reasons. To use the IOTA contest website as an example, the PHP scripting
developed for this, to allow online uploading and checking of logs, links to
Google earth, etc, etc, is quite complex and Marios G0WWW, who has done all
this for free, wanted to keep control of the whole process, so we pay a few
pounds a month for space on a specialist server.



Merging in some way of the main HF and VHF contest websites, including
adopting the RSGB site’s “look and feel”, has been on the agenda now for the
past three years, but unfortunately any folk with web expertise tend to get
“volunteered” for web work (their local Parish council, favourite charity or
whatever) so it’s been all we can do to maintain the sites as they are,
without a major revamp (which would require reworking lots of legacy pages
as well as the front page). It looks as though we may finally have found
someone to project manage this, but it will take time.



In comparison, Logbook of the World cost several hundred thousand dollars to
develop – the RSGB simply doesn’t have these kind of resources. The IOTA
Programme (as against IOTA contest) site would never have happened except
that we were able to pay a bright young man way below market rate to do the
job, which helped his way through university. The funds came not from RSGB
membership fees but from Yaesu, and subsequently Icom, sponsorship of the
IOTA programme.



Running RSGB contests costs about 10p per member per year. If the work was
put into HQ (as with ARRL) this figure would rise dramatically. It only
happens because of voluntary effort (and frankly, with some of the sniping
which I see on here, I wonder that anyone volunteers when they could be
contesting or spending time with their families).



RSGB is far from perfect but what organisation is (even the British
government, hi )? It only survives through volunteer effort and by “topping
up” the fees through commercial activities such as selling books and through
the occasional sponsorship and donations. And that, I’m afraid, is the hard
truth. There is lots that many of us would love to see happen but,
especially as the membership profile is ageing and the country is in
financial straits, it will increasingly have to tighten its belt, just like
so many other, similar bodies.



So, to go back to the beginning. If you find obvious broken links, let
someone know. On other matters, don’t hold your breath. But 2000 people
enter the IOTA contest each year without problems, and about 3000 UK
amateurs take part in, and successfully send their logs in, to RSGB contests
each year, so it can’t be that badly broken.



Don G3XTT

Sport Radio Board Member, Contest Committee Chairman and IOTA Contest
Manager (and hopefully time for a “normal” life too)